Biden's momentous and 'closely-held' decision surprises own aides 6park.com
Joe Biden's senior White House and campaign staff had spent the past week insisting the president planned to stay in the 2024 race despite an onslaught of calls within the Democratic party for him to step aside. 6park.com
As recently as Saturday, the president's aides were putting together a campaign schedule for him to pick up upon his return to the White House next week. He had been recovering from Covid at his beach house on the eastern shores of Delaware, insisting that he was still running but infuriated as a co-ordinated effort to pressure him to exit by some Democrats began to spill into public view. 6park.com
By Sunday morning, the president had changed his mind. 6park.com
He separately called his chief-of-staff Jeff Zients, his campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and Vice-President Kamala Harris to inform them of his decision to drop out, sources familiar with how the events of Sunday unfolded told the BBC. 6park.com
Mr Biden then held a call with his senior White House and campaign aides. A minute later, he released a public statement that sent shockwaves across the American political landscape and upended the 2024 election. 6park.com
"He said he had been reflecting on it over the past couple of days," a senior White House official told the BBC. "It was a closely-held decision." 6park.com
Though Mr Biden did not mention Ms Harris in his initial statement, he tweeted his endorsement for his vice-president about half an hour later. The two spoke multiple times throughout the day in the lead-up to the stunning announcement, according to two sources familiar with the conversations. 6park.com
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gdzmdje5xo 6park.com